The world's population is continuously growing, and so is the need for quality and safe products. People consume food for survival, take dietary supplement, and apply cosmetics for self-improvement. In general, food is available in the market as frozen, chilled, pre-cooked, and/or processed, while nutraceuticals and cosmetics are ready-to-consume and ready-to apply, respectively. The common denominator for all of these products is the need to be properly processed as finished products.

 

Proper processing of food, dietary supplements, additives and cosmetics should be aligned with the standards set by the government or any recognized organization concerned with the said products. To be able to achieve this, manufacturers should start investing in different food safety testing methods that will ensure the quality and safety of their products. One of the most significant of which is subjecting the products to microbial analysis to verify if these fall within the set standards of particular product safety regulatory boards. The traditional way of doing the assay is through conventional plating method which can take about two (2) to seven (7) days depending on the microorganism of interest. Added to this are identification methods, especially for pathogens, which need further confirmation such as biochemical tests or even molecular identification tests. With these traditional methods, processed foods cannot be easily declared as "good to deliver" or "passed" by Quality Control. This leads to slower turnover, additional warehousing costs, and merchandise inventory with shorter shelf life.

 

To address this problem, manufacturers turn to alternative tools that can do the same function but with faster results without sacrificing sensitivity and specificity. One such tool is Compact Dry™, a product of Nissui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. based in Japan, an innovation of the conventional plate method, and the future of microbial testing. Compact Dry™ is a ready-to-use chromogenic media plate which can be used as direct substitute to conventional method. It eliminates the laborious work of media preparation and sterilization. In large manufacturing companies, a total of four (4) to six (6) hours daily can be saved in overall microbial testing, which can be used for other laboratory assignments. Moreover, for start-up micro, small, and medium companies with limited facilities, the use of rapid test kits is also an advantage because it only needs a small space due to minimum laboratory requirement.

 

Compact Dry™ is very easy to use, and requires minimal training. This rapid test kit is available in 15 parameters which includes spoilage organisms, pathogens, and other special parameters. In comparison with other similar technologies, Compact DryTM is the only system with available tests for Enterococcus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Total Count in Tea. It also offers reduced testing time for E.coli/coliform, and yeast and mold with only 24-72 hours of incubation time, respectively, another product development that is part of Nissui Corporation's commitment to continual innovation and provide the best solutions to various Industries' microbial testing requirements.